Best towns/cities for craft beer pubs

traprunner

I'm planning a stag late this year/early next year and was wondering where in Ireland would there be a good selection of pubs that sell craft beer close to each other. People will be attending from North Cork, Tipperary, Louth, Dublin and possibly Holland. Any help would be appreciated.

Lovely Bloke

In Ireland, Dublin, Galway, Cork - in that order.

Dublin must have about 20 craft pubs, and if you plan it correctly you could visit each one in a single day, or over the course of 2 nights.

If we take a "Canal to Canal" view.

Starting Northside.

Porterhouse North Phibsborough
WJ Kavanagh's Dorset St
L Mulligan Grocer Stoneybatter
Beerhouse Capel St
Black Sheep Capel St
Brew Dock Amiens St

Cross the River

JW Sweetman Quays
Cassidy's Westmoreland St
Porterhouse Central Nassau St
Porterhouse Temple Bar
Farringtons/The Norseman Temple Bar
The Bull & Castle Christ Church
P Mac's Stephen St
Against The Grain Wexford St
Alfie Byrne's Earlsfort Tce
57 The Headline SCR

I'm sure I'm missing something, and also, I'd say you can get something crafty in about 20-25% of all the pubs in the city at this stage.

Would I be wrong in that?

Balmed Out

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I'm sure I'm missing something, and also, I'd say you can get something crafty in about 20-25% of all the pubs in the city at this stage.

Would I be wrong in that?

Just in Cork id say you can get something crafty in 90% of city centre bars and im sure its the same in all the cities of Ireland.

drumswan

Im off to Cork for the weekend, can someone post a list like BC's?

Lovely Bloke

drumswan wrote: »

Im off to Cork for the weekend, can someone post a list like BC's?

Franciscan Well
Bierhaus

:pac:

drumswan

I was afraid someone was going to say that. Bradleys off -licence looks worth a visit and theres that new Rising Sons too. Anywhere else?

endacl

Just back from edinburgh. Nothing here compares. Practically every pub I was in sold really good cask ales and beers. As if it was no big thing!

We've a lot if catching up to do...

drumswan

Nothing compares? Bit of an exaggeration no? Farringtons, ATG, Brewdock and The Headline have superb lineups

Aglomerado

drumswan wrote: »

I was afraid someone was going to say that. Bradleys off -licence looks worth a visit and theres that new Rising Sons too. Anywhere else?

I was in Rising Sons last week. I was impressed with their Handsum Pale Ale!
Also,the Franciscan Well. They are owned by Molsons but they have guest ales as well.

8 Degrees are coming to the Bierhaus tomorrow night as well. :cool:

endacl

drumswan wrote: »

Nothing compares? Bit of an exaggeration no? Farringtons, ATG, Brewdock and The Headline have superb lineups

That's four pubs. I'm talking practically every pub!

BeerNut

Isn't there a pub in Cork city, on the quays somewhere, that has loads of Eight Degrees beers on tap?

Aglomerado

BeerNut wrote: »

Isn't there a pub in Cork city, on the quays somewhere, that has loads of Eight Degrees beers on tap?

I think that's the Friary, at the bottom of Shandon Street. I may venture in there tomorrow for a pint or two.

BeerNut

The Cotton Ball is worth a spin out to, drumswan. It's 15 minutes on the 208 bus from Patrick Street. Cork city's fourth biggest brewery

drumswan

endacl wrote: »

That's four pubs. I'm talking practically every pub!

You said nothing compares. Those four compare well to anywhere Ive been in any city.

Thanks for the Corkie recommendations folks. Some gimp picked a hell of a weekend to leave Dublin for a stags. The Stone-Brewdog-Magic Rock collab is going on in Farringtons as well as brand new Dead Pony Club and rumours of Dogfishhead, The Headline have Metalmans Can Beer Pilot #1, as well as a certain little festival arrrgh

traprunner

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

In Ireland, Dublin, Galway, Cork - in that order.

Dublin must have about 20 craft pubs, and if you plan it correctly you could visit each one in a single day, or over the course of 2 nights.

If we take a "Canal to Canal" view.

Starting Northside.

Porterhouse North Phibsborough
WJ Kavanagh's Dorset St
L Mulligan Grocer Stoneybatter
Beerhouse Capel St
Black Sheep Capel St
Brew Dock Amiens St

Cross the River

JW Sweetman Quays
Cassidy's Westmoreland St
Porterhouse Central Nassau St
Porterhouse Temple Bar
Farringtons/The Norseman Temple Bar
The Bull & Castle Christ Church
P Mac's Stephen St
Against The Grain Wexford St
Alfie Byrne's Earlsfort Tce
57 The Headline SCR

I'm sure I'm missing something, and also, I'd say you can get something crafty in about 20-25% of all the pubs in the city at this stage.

Would I be wrong in that?

That's an even more perfect answer that I was thinking of. Cheers


Anyone with other towns where Diageo are losing their grip?

drumswan

traprunner wrote: »

That's an even more perfect answer that I was thinking of. Cheers


Anyone with other towns where Diageo are losing their grip?

Galway is worth a look too apparently, thats about it.

traprunner

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Franciscan Well
Bierhaus

:pac:

Crane Lane (when it's not a Guinness pub during the Jazz Festival)

traprunner

drumswan wrote: »

Galway is worth a look too apparently, thats about it.

Thanks drumswan.

Viva la beer revolution!

lk67

drumswan wrote: »

Im off to Cork for the weekend, can someone post a list like BC's?

What about Abbots Ale house? It can be, er, interesting...

Porterhouse too and maybe Fionnbaras(?)

Not the same as Brew Dock, ATG etc but all fine IMO.

+1 for Bierhaus on the quays, always a great selection. (Especially if you can still bring in a pizza from nextdoor-ish!)

Ravelleman

lk67 wrote: »

What about Abbots Ale house? It can be, er, interesting...

I was there on Saturday and it was worse than ever for draught beer. They just had a couple of Fran Well beers, possibly Blue Moon and a couple of macro lagers. My pint of Shandon Stout was particularly awful, though that is perhaps a reflection on the new formulation than the Abbots.

lk67

Ravelleman wrote: »

I was there on Saturday and it was worse than ever for draught beer. They just had a couple of Fran Well beers, possibly Blue Moon and a couple of macro lagers. My pint of Shandon Stout was particularly awful, though that is perhaps a reflection on the new formulation than the Abbots.

That's a pity. I haven't been there since Christmas, when they had a couple of nice seasonal Belgian beers on.

Weird place though.... Found it hard to decide whether I loved it or hated it!

schemingbohemia

traprunner wrote: »

That's an even more perfect answer that I was thinking of. Cheers


Anyone with other towns where Diageo are losing their grip?

Not losing their grip but Sligo has The Swagman, Hargadons and White Hag might have got some of their beers into a few more pubs now.

DelmarODonnell

If you somehow end up in Bray, there are a few spots that are quite good for craft beers.

Down the seafront are:

The Porterhouse - the original Porterhouse itself, brews its own beers and has a massive selection of craft beers from Ireland and around the world

The Martello - New to craft beers but would have a selection of 5-6 different on tap I'd say.

The Harbour Bar - rated on lonely planet as the worlds best bar, again starting to really get into the craft beer scene. A local guy even runs a beer tasting club on Tuesdays there.

On the Main Street:

Hollands - Also an off license which has a selection of beers that would pretty much rival any off license, really excellent. Then the pub itself has a really good selection on tap and you can ask for any bottle from the off license too.

Duffs - Quite a small selection, maybe one or two. But would have Paulaner and the likes and is a nice place.

There is probably another 10 pubs in Bray but I don't think you'd get much of a sniff of a craft beer in them.

Knifey Spoony

drumswan wrote: »

Im off to Cork for the weekend, can someone post a list like BC's?

Just to compile all the Cork stuff into one list:

Fran Well
The Bierhaus
The Friary
Cotton Ball
Rising Sons
Market Lane (they are a restaurant, but have their own beer. Should also have a nano brewery in place next month)
The Hub
Poterhouse
Abbott's Ale House
Rising Sons

Most bars in the city would also have craft stuff, at the very least some 8 degrees, Rising Sons and Fran Well.

If your down tomorrow night, 8 degrees have a tap take over in the Bierhaus, as part of the Bierhuas' 8th birthday. I'm really looking forward to trying the Nelson Sauvin Saison from 8 degrees there.

Also, the MadStoneDog Saison is nothing special.

drumswan

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

Just to compile all the Cork stuff into one list:

Fran Well
The Bierhaus
The Friary
Cotton Ball
Rising Sons
Market Lane (they are a restaurant, but have their own beer. Should also have a nano brewery in place next month)
The Hub
Poterhouse
Abbott's Ale House
Rising Sons

Most bars in the city would also have craft stuff, at the very least some 8 degrees, Rising Sons and Fran Well.

If your down tomorrow night, 8 degrees have a tap take over in the Bierhaus, as part of the Bierhuas' 8th birthday. I'm really looking forward to trying the Nelson Sauvin Saison from 8 degrees there.

Also, the MadStoneDog Saison is nothing special.

Cheers mate, I'll try to steer them along to the Bierhaus.

Balmed Out

just to mention again most pubs in cork will have craft beers. Biggest 'chain' would be the heritage pubs which are excellent but expensive http://www.corkheritagepubs.com/ theyd all sell midazza stout, stonewell cider and a few craft beers

Aglomerado

I'm missing 8 degrees at the bierhaus, however I nipped in for a couple earlier after work. Alba abu and nelson s...(can't spell it! :$ ) lovely beers! The latter is very strong though! They're a great brewery. :-)